


Saturday Shortcut

by LdyBastet



Series: Red Pineapple Romance [8]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Fluff and Smut, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-06-01 10:56:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15141563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LdyBastet/pseuds/LdyBastet
Summary: Everything is back to normal after Renji's week of penance is over. Nothing could ever go wrong then, right?





	Saturday Shortcut

**Author's Note:**

> This is one of my old fics that I am finally posting to AO3. Thank you to everyone who's been reading it, way back in the past, as well as now. Thanks guys!
> 
> **Disclaimer:** The world and characters of Bleach belong to Kubo Tite. I have only borrowed them for this attempt at transformative work, and I make no money from it. No people or animals, either real or fictional, were hurt in the writing of this story.

Renji had reluctantly decided that doing something bad to get Byakuya to prolong his punishment was probably not a good idea, because Renji quite liked being alive, and also having time to go out and have a drink with his friends. After all, even if Byakuya did think Renji deserved punishment for something else, there was no guarantee that he would assign more of the wonderful tasks Renji'd had as Byakuya's manservant. Renji's mind had helpfully offered up countless other scenarios – scrubbing the floors in the 6th Division every night, archiving all divisions' reports from when his work day was over until it began again in the morning, being Kurotsuchi-taichou's guinea pig... It was at that point Renji had realised that he enjoyed existing, with his limbs and face still attached and no more than the usual number, and that there were worse things in life than never seeing Byakuya naked again.

His life settled into its normal rhythm again, apart from the fact that he woke up very early in the mornings with his mind full of images of a naked and wet Byakuya, and the memories of how it felt to 'accidentally' let his fingertips brush over the pale skin.

The atmosphere in the office was good too, although definitely not back to how it had once been. Renji had been afraid at first that Byakuya would ignore him, going back to exactly how he'd treated him before that whole mess with the chocolate happened, but he'd soon noticed that some things were different. Byakuya wasn't exactly friendly or open, but he joked with Renji more often, saying things that Renji was first convinced were serious until he saw that tiny little curve at the corner of Byakuya's mouth that was a hint of a smile.

**

It was Saturday. A glorious, sunny day, and by all rights everyone should have such a day off, thought Renji. He didn't. A special request from the library had arrived late the previous day, and Renji had been the obvious candidate to handle the gathering of information and scrolls for Byakuya to look through.

"Here you are, Taichou," Renji said, trying to sound cheerful as he put the box with papers and writing scrolls down beside him. He was tired, but at least his part of the work was done. The frown on Byakuya's face told Renji that he wasn't too pleased either.

"Thank you, Renji." Byakuya picked out a century-old report from the box, and Renji slipped out of the room.

If he hurried, he could still catch up with Hisagi and Kira, and maybe just be one beer behind them when he arrived at the beach. Renji looked at the winding garden path before him, and decided to take a quicker and straighter route towards the gate.

Just as he hurried past the big pond, something grabbed his leg, tripping him. It coiled quickly around his ankle and calf, and with terrifying strength. It made no sound, and it had no reiatsu that Renji could feel. As he fell, Renji reached for his sword, finding only air where it should be... if he had been out patrolling and not in Byakuya's garden.

"Shit!" Renji watched the dark tentacle move up his leg, so tight that it pulled the leg of the hakama with it. He had to free himself somehow! Who'd have thought that something would attack him here, inside Seireitei, in Byakuya's home even! Renji tried to get his leg free, struggling to not be pulled down into the pond, but the green-tinged limb was stronger than he. With growing horror, Renji felt his foot starting to go numb, the blood flow constricted, and images of being choked or drowned rose in his mind. He had to get away!

Renji sat up and raised his hands, holding them out together before him and took a deep breath to steady himself, to focus. _"Ye lord, mask of blood and flesh_ ," he chanted, " _all creation, flutter of wings ye who bears the name of man. Inferno and Pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on the south! Hadou no sanjuuichi, Shakkahou!"_

A small red, glowing globe was released from Renji's hands. Not the impressive and forceful shot he'd hoped to achieve for once, but at least it was something, and he prayed it would be enough as it wobbled through the air towards the thing that had grabbed him. He watched the globe's surface touch down against the tentacle, bounce once... and then the world exploded.

Renji realised he must be free, because he was flying briefly before hitting a tree, getting the air that had already been knocked out of him by the blast doubly knocked out. The air around him was crackling with flames and coloured lightning flashes, and there was a loud ringing noise in his ears. Bits of debris fell down around him in the sudden rain, along with a flopping fish that landed straight into his lap. 

Renji blinked, trying to get the dancing spots before his eyes to go away, and stared at the fish. It was pretty, he thought. All colours and long, delicate fins. Not at all like the fish he'd used to catch in the river when he was younger. With a sense of horror, he realised it was a koi. It was one of Byakuya's treasured prize-winning koi. Suddenly, the area around them – he and the fish – was busy with voices and people running around trying to put out the fire. 

Through the noise, Renji could hear Byakuya giving orders to save the koi, to fetch buckets to put those that were still living in... Renji looked away from the fish in his lap and saw Byakuya stride towards him. This was not good, Renji knew it. He was in big trouble now. But Byakuya didn't look at him, even though he'd stopped just a pace away. He just waved to a servant with a bucket to take care of Renji's companion, and looked out over his pond.

Renji followed Byakuya's gaze and, impossibly, his heart got even more stuck in his throat, his stomach filled with even more ice and gravel. There was no pond anymore. Where it had been was only devastation now: the explosion had ruptured the entire structure, the water was almost completely gone and a few colourful fishes flopped around desperately in the puddles that remained. There were quite a few, though, that were singed and burned and quite obviously dead.

Renji swallowed hard. Things had been going so well for him lately, and now this had happened. Byakuya would never forgive him for this. It had been one thing to forgive him for the transgression of his gigai, but this? Could Renji ever atone for something like this, this kind of damage? Just one of these pretty fishes cost a fortune! Maybe if Renji lived a thousand years and gave his entire wages to Byakuya every week? No... He didn't make enough money as a fukutaichou for that. Maybe two thousand years?

Byakuya's presence loomed over him. Renji could see his dark shape in the corner of his eye, but worse than that was the pressure of his reiatsu. Byakuya's famous control has slipped a little and Renji was brought back to memories of that time they'd been fighting. Byakuya was not pleased, not pleased at all. 

After managing to get a deep breath of air into his lungs, Renji slowly looked up at Byakuya, hoping to steal a glance to gauge just how bad things were, but he found himself caught by Byakuya's gaze. 

"Taichou," Renji croaked after what felt like an eternity. He swallowed again. "Did I-- did I do this?"

Byakuya was silent for a few seconds – each of them a lifetime – before replying. "Yes."

Renji squeezed his eyes closed. It really was his fault, and for that, Byakuya had every right to be furious with him, probably murderous too. It was just a question of when he was going to snap. There was a rustle of fabric in front of Renji, and he deduced that it was Byakuya moving closer, moving in for the kill... Renji held his breath.

"Are you injured?"

"Wha--?" Renji looked up in surprise. Byakuya was sitting in front of him, a deep furrow between his eyebrows.

"I asked if you're hurt. Your uniform is singed."

Renji looked down at his legs. Byakuya was right. His hakama had been burnt at the edges and one leg was now shorter than the other. He tried to wiggle his toes. They moved. "I don't think so."

Byakuya gave him the look that he always did when he didn't believe what Renji was saying. "Can you walk?"

"Yeah, nothing's broken." Renji got to his feet when Byakuya stood up, and then following him towards the main building. He didn't say anything, thinking it better to just experience what little time he had left. His legs ached, and his ears were still ringing, but for now he was alive. He didn't quite understand why Byakuya led him back to the house, but he wasn't going to argue. Perhaps he didn't want his servants to see the hideous punishment that Renji was going to get?

"Sit." 

Renji looked around him. He'd been so busy with his thoughts that he hadn't noticed where they went, but he recognised it now. They were in Byakuya's bedroom, and the only thing he really could sit on was Byakuya's futon. Renji sat down on the floor below it. He wouldn't dare touch something of Byakuya's now. If he did, he'd probably manage to destroy it somehow - ripping the sheets, put a stain on some invaluable fabric or embroidery, or something.

Byakuya went into the bathroom, but was soon back again, holding a small jar in his hand. He didn't comment on Renji's choice of sitting surface, just sat down next to him and pulled the more charred of the hakama legs up to reveal a rather nasty burn. Before Renji could say anything, Byakuya began applying some of the salve from the jar. It stung fiercely at first, but then it began to fade, and with it the original pain from the burn as well. Despite himself, Renji's eyes closed at the gentle touch.

"This will speed up the healing," Byakuya murmured, and Renji nodded, a little reassured. Byakuya wouldn't tend to his wounds first and then kill him, right? Right.

"Taichou... I'm-- I'm sorry. I have no idea how that could happen. I was caught by something and I just tried to free myself..."

"You used kidou, didn't you?"

"Yeah... but it's never done anything like that before. Sure, I've blown some shit up, but not at this scale, and it was just a really small globe. Tiny really..." Renji sighed. "Kidou isn't my strong point."

"I know."

Renji blushed and looked down. Of course Byakuya knew. But it was the way he said it – so matter-of-factly, as if it was the most natural thing in the world that Renji sucked at kidou, as if it was expected of him... A tingling started in his leg, a cool, soothing energy that slowly spread down to his foot, and Renji realised that Byakuya was actually using a healing kidou on him.

"It wasn't only your fault, Renji," Byakuya said after a moment. "I bear at least half the responsibility for what happened."

"You do?"

"I have for some time noticed that my koi have disappeared. They weren't eaten by some animal because there were no trace of any such meal taking place. It was more like they simply vanished into thin air, which koi normally can't do. I deduced someone was making them disappear, and so I set a trap. Unfortunately, you got caught in it."

"I haven't done anything to your fishes, Taichou. Not before, I mean..."

"I know. But the trap was sprung... and your kidou happened to trigger a sudden discharge that I had not expected at all."

"You mean the explosion."

Byakuya nodded. "Yes, the explosion. At least I could see for myself now that only half of them remained. They were much easier to count when the water was gone."

Renji heaved a deeper sigh. And of the koi that had been left, Renji had killed another half. It didn't matter that Byakuya nobly insisted that part of the blame was his. If Renji hadn't taken the short-cut, if he hadn't tried to use kidou, the pond would still be in the garden, Renji wouldn't have burns, and his hakama would not smell faintly of fish. And even he could see the symbolism in what had happened, it was that obvious. He'd been such a fool, Renji thought. Some things just couldn't mix. Oil and water.

"Guess that's the only result possible of me getting too close to you, touching your... stuff. Destruction and … yeah, destruction," he said quietly, studying his toes. _Pain_. Why had he thought he could feel the way he did about a man like Byakuya, that he had any right to, even in his fantasies? Byakuya was so far above him both in status and in power that Renji would never be able to catch up, never reach him, no matter how hard he tried. It had been doomed from the start and deep down, he'd known it. 

There was a strange sound, like a laugh. But Renji wasn't laughing, and it didn't sound like his anyway. This was softer, full of air and soft notes... Byakuya was laughing? A touch on his cheek made him look up. Byakuya was closer now, and he was applying the salve on Renji's cheek.

"I don't see it that way," Byakuya said, and Renji could have sworn there was a small smile on his lips. "I'd say that the result of you being close to me, your energy and mine touching – mixing even - is quite spectacular, full of explosive force and heat, and rivalling the best fireworks I have seen."

Renji knew he was staring, but he couldn't look away. Byakuya looked as serene as always, not a hint of mocking on his face. "Fireworks?" Renji said finally.

"Yes, fireworks." Byakuya leaned closer, his hand still on Renji's cheek. He was so close now that Renji could feel Byakuya's breath on his lips. "Sparkling and colourful, glittering and breathtaking. A powerful force turned into handfuls of precious jewels cast up into the air to paint the most beautiful patterns against the darkness of the night sky."

"But I destroyed your pond," Renji whispered, his heart pounding so hard that his chest ached.

"I hardly think this is the time to remind me of that," Byakuya said calmly and then Renji couldn't remind him of anything at all, because Byakuya's lips were pressed against his, soft and warm, and infinitely better than anything Renji had fantasised about because they were real. A soft moan escaped him when the tip of Byakuya's tongue slid over his upper lip. 

"Taichou..."

Byakuya didn't reply; instead, he placed his hand on Renji's chest and gently pushed him backwards, onto the mattress. For a short moment, Byakuya's face hovered over Renji's, his eyes dark and his gaze intense, then he leaned down to kiss Renji again. This time, Renji wasn't paralysed and his arms found their way around Byakuya, holding on to him even as he parted his lips for Byakuya's explorations.

"You're not going to punish me?" Renji looked up at Byakuya's face, hovering over his own.

"Do you think you deserve a punishment? Did you do it on purpose?"

Renji shook his head. "No, I'd never wilfully harm you or anything you own."

"Just like with the gigai business, then," Byakuya commented. "That was not your fault either."

"It wasn't?"

"No. I sent your gikongan to 12th Division for them to investigate, and it seems one of the pills was not the kind that comes with your dispenser. It had a completely different personality – one that is slightly on the promiscuous side."

Renji was relieved. That did explain that, at least, even if he had no idea how his soul candy could have been mixed up. It probably hadn't been some freaky projection of his own fantasies and wishes then. He frowned. "But if it wasn't my fault, why you did punish me for it?"

There was a hint of amusement in Byakuya's eyes. "Was it really such a terrible punishment? I got the impression that you quite enjoyed it, actually." Renji blushed. "It's impossible to not notice an erection covered only by your fundoshi... especially when the fabric is wet and almost transparent." 

Renji blushed an even deeper crimson. He remembered that for some strange reason, he'd frequently been splashed with water while washing Byakuya before his bath, ending up almost as wet as Byakuya every time. It had been inconvenient and slightly humiliating at times, but it had also given him a chance to be close to the object of all his dirty fantasies, to touch him even! He couldn't avoid that when he had to scrub and rinse those legs and buttocks...

"I punished you because it seemed like you would never have forgiven yourself otherwise," Byakuya whispered and kissed him softly. "And it was an excellent opportunity to see how serious you were." 

"Serious?" Renji repeated. "About what?"

"You gave me a gift... because you have feelings for me, you admitted." Renji nodded. "After your days here were over, did you hurry home to touch yourself, barely having to time to close the door behind you, like you rushed into my bathroom at the hotel after we found your gigai sucking mine off?" 

Renji groaned. He'd never heard more arousing words in his entire life, he thought. The words _sucking off_ had never sounded so delicious before as when they were voiced by Byakuya. Renji hadn't thought that a man like him would ever say something like that, being of noble birth and so far away from the gutters where Renji had grown up as one could possibly be. "God... Taichou..."

"Did you?"

Renji drew a shaky breath. "Yeah," he whispered. "Yeah, I did."

"What did you think about?" Somehow, Byakuya's hand had found its way inside Renji's kosode, and gentle fingertips brushed over his nipples.

"You. Touching your skin while I was washing you... Your-- arse." Renji gasped. He couldn't believe he was saying these things and was still allowed to live. 

"Mm, I see." Byakuya pressed a kiss to Renji's neck. "Have you thought about what happened with our gigai?"

"Oh god. Yeah, many times." How could he not? "I can still remember the taste of you-- your gigai in my mouth when I got back into it."

"I thought as much," Byakuya said softly, and his breath tickled Renji's ear. "Because I can still remember the feeling of your gigai's saliva drying on my cock."

Renji groaned again. "Fuck!" It really should be illegal for Kuchiki Byakuya to use words like that, he thought. Renji's cock was throbbing now, pressing hard against his tight underwear, and it was not getting any easier to concentrate when Byakuya started undoing the knots in Renji's obi and hakama straps.

"Do you want to do it yourself? Do you want to taste me?" Byakuyas voice was dark and low and so, so seductive. Renji didn't know if it was that or the actual words that sent that shiver through him.

"Taichou!"

"I would prefer it if you call me 'Byakuya' when we're in bed." Byakuya kissed Renji again and guided his hand down to his crotch, where Renji could feel his cock through the fabric. He knew what it looked like; he had never managed to get that vision out of his mind after that disastrous day in the Karakura Town park, and it has fuelled many of his sexual fantasies since then. And now Byakuya wanted him to suck it? Renji wondered briefly if he hadn't actually hit his head in the explosion and was unconscious, having a very realistic and wonderful dream.

But Byakuya shifted to lie beside Renji, and loosened the knots in his own hakama as well. Renji could barely pull his gaze away from those slender fingers and their inviting movements. Without thinking, he reached out to help pull the hakama ties from around Byakuya's waist, and folded down the front of the fabric. This gave him a glorious view of white fabric stretched tautly over Byakuya's cock and balls. Renji moved a fingertip lightly over the hard length and was rewarded with a soft moan from Byakuya.

That was enough to make Renji throw out all caution and with hurried moves, he managed to unravel the fundoshi enough so that he could pull the fabric aside to expose Byakuya's cock. He curled his fingers around it, eager to feel the weight and the warmth and the _reality_ of it in his hand, finally. He looked up at Byakuya. "Do you know how long I've dreamt of this?" Renji rasped. He kissed Byakuya - a fast, perhaps clumsy, but very heartfelt and needy kiss – and then leaned down across Byakuya to press more kisses to his cock.

For a short moment Renji thought he'd done something wrong but then he realised that Byakuya was simply pressing his hips up to get more, to get closer to Renji's mouth. With a quick grin, Renji took Byakuya's cock in his hand again and this time, he licked the silky skin, from the base, right up to the tip where a drop of pre-come was forming already. He wanted to tell Byakuya that he was fucking hot, that he tasted so good, that it was better than what Renji had fantasised about, that he was gorgeous... but he also didn't want to give Byakuya time to change his mind. So Renji closed his lips around the head, flicking his tongue over the slit, and sucked lightly. Encouraged by the deepening of Byakuya's breathing, Renji took more of him into his mouth, moving his hand down the shaft along with it, pulling down the foreskin all the way.

Renji felt a touch at his lower back, then Byakuya reached down into Renji's hakama to slide his fingers down the cleft between his buttocks, wedging them in under the coiled fabric of the fundoshi. He rubbed a finger over Renji's hole, teasing a low moan out of him, but then Byakuya pulled his hand back, and Renji refocused on trying out every little trick he'd learned when it came to the art of oral sex.

When Byakuya's fingers returned, they were slick and a little cold, and Renji moaned again and pushed his arse back against them. He positioned himself so that Byakuya could reach better, while Renji could still suck and tease his cock. Almost immediately, Byakuya pushed a finger into him, and Renji groaned around Byakuya as his own cock twitched. Maybe it was all his dreams and fantasies, all the built up longing and now the anticipation as well, but fuck it if Byakuya's finger didn't feel better than any other he'd had inside him. It made his blood rush so hotly through his body... and most of it seemed to end up between his legs, making him ache.

When Byakuya pushed a second finger into him, Renji straightened up so he could kiss him hungrily. "God, Taich--" Renji saw the look in Byakuya's eyes, reminding him. "Byakuya," he whispered, and Byakuya smiled faintly.

"Do you want it?" Byakuya pushed both fingers hard into him.

"Yeah, fuck! Fuck yeah, I want it!" 

Byakuya pulled Renji into another toe-curling kiss. "Such a dirty mouth," he mumbled. "I like it. And you taste of me."

Byakuya slid out from under Renji and pushed him face down into the mattress as he knelt between Renji's legs. He grabbed Renji's hakama at the waist and pulled them down and off Renji's legs. Tabi socks and fundoshi followed, and then Renji's legs were forcibly spread apart again, Byakuya leaning over him, kissing his neck, his cock nestled between Renji's buttocks.

"Please," Renji breathed, and even though he wanted Byakuya so much that he ached, he was still a little disappointed when Byakuya pulled away. "Please, Byakuya... Fuck me... oh god, just fuck me already!" Renji rocked his hips to rub his cock against the soft sheets. The shift between rough undressing and soft touches was driving him mad with arousal.

When Byakuya entered him, Renji could only gasp, a desperate, voiceless pleading for Byakuya to go on, to take everything he wanted from him. It was intense, and the thrusts into him a relentless pleasure. Renji was already too close, and even though he tried to fight it, tried to hold back, he knew he was losing the battle. "I'm-- so close... Fuck! I'm-- I can't..."

"It's all right, Renji," Byakuya purred in his ear. "Come if you need to... but I'm not going to stop."

Renji moaned. "No... don't stop!" Knowing that Byakuya had no intention of letting his own pleasure be cut short because Renji suddenly had the stamina of a teenager broke the last little bit of resistance Renji had. 

"Turn over," Byakuya whispered when Renji relaxed again, and now that he was beginning to regain his ability to think, Renji could hear that Byakuya was hoarse, that his voice was thick with lust. Renji had always thought Byakuya's voice was sexy, but this... that Byakuya sounded like this because of _him_ , made it even sexier.

"Fuck," Renji whispered and flipped over onto his back, looking up at Byakuya. He pulled up his knees and spread them wide. "Fuck yeah. Take me. God, I want to feel you come."

**

Afterwards, they lay quietly side by side. Renji could feel the heat from Byakuya's body against his skin, even though they weren't touching. He was a little sore, but in a good way – in the best way possible, actually.

"What happens now," he asked quietly, not so certain that he was going to like the reply. There was absolutely nothing that guaranteed that what happened between them meant that he was safe from any repercussions due to the unfortunate destruction of the garden.

"Now?" Byakuya propped himself up on his elbow to look at Renji. He trailed his fingers through the semen drying on Renji's stomach. "Now we take a bath, because I think we both need it."

**

Renji rinsed the soap off himself and stood up, looking at Byakuya, who was already comfortable in the bath tub. "Are you sure? It's not that big, is it?"

Byakuya hummed and opened his eyes a little. "It's big enough, I think. Come here and have a look for yourself." He straightened up a little and held out a hand invitingly.

"Big enough for you, yeah." Renji hesitated slightly before lifting a leg over the edge.

"We'll manage. I think you will find it quite enjoyable. Turn around and sit down here." Byakuya spread his legs, bending them a little.

Renji nodded and sighed contentedly when he leaned back against Byakuya's chest. The bath tub _was_ just big enough for the two of them, and Renji was hugged on all sides, Byakuya's knees on either side and his arms around his chest. "Mm, you're right," Renji mumbled against Byakuya's neck. "It's big enough if we sit like this. So, does this mean that I'm back to waking you up in the mornings and scrubbing your back before your bath and all that?"

"If you want to," Byakuya said quietly.

"Maybe your regular ... bath servant or whatever it's called will be angry if I show up and do his job again?"

There was a moment of silence. "I don't have one. I normally wash myself," Byakuya said then, sounding amused, and Renji tilted his head to look at him.

"You mean that you invented some kind of servant position for me as a punishment?" Renji felt annoyed at first, tricked, but then he started to find it a bit funny too. "So... the looks your other servants gave me was not because they thought I'd come in and taken the place of one of them, but because..." He remembered the giggling young women who'd quickly turned away when he'd turned the corner. 

"Probably because I invited you into my bedroom."

Renji shook his head. "And I didn't suspect anything!" He looked up at Byakuya again. Byakuya's eyes were closed and the look on his face reminded Renji of something like a quiet lake in a winter morning - serene, a sharp, delicate beauty that belied the strength and severity that lay underneath... and yet, Renji knew now that behind the frosty exterior, Byakuya was passionate and warm. Renji barked a short laugh, causing Byakuya to crack one eye open. "You're sneaky, Taichou. Sneaky and manipulative."

"Hardly." Byakuya leaned forward a little to press his lips to Renji's shoulder. "I was simply taking advantage of the situation."

"Yeah. Like I said, sneaky." Renji grinned. He leaned back against Byakuya's chest again and closed his eyes. Giving Byakuya that box of chocolate had probably been the smartest thing he'd ever done.


End file.
